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Posted on 11/03/2005 7:39:03 AM PST by Small-L
Bill O'Reilly of Fox TV concluded: "My contention is the oil companies don't have to double their profits. They can maybe make them two-fifths (40 percent). Take a little less for the good of the nation."
Exxon-Mobil's recent profit margin was up to nearly 9 percent of sales. Suppose they tried to cut that to a nickel out of every dollar by offering to sell crude oil for $3 a barrel less than the going price on the Chicago mercantile exchange. Refiners around the world would instantly commit to buying every drop. By the next day, the world price of crude would be same as before. ... Suppose the Big Five oil companies got together and agreed to cut retail gasoline prices at their company-owned stations by 20 cents a gallon. Motorists would soon drain those stations dry, leaving the much larger number of independent gas stations in a position to charge even more. Meanwhile, independent station owners would file a complaint with the antitrust division of the Department of Justice accusing the majors of collusive predatory pricing to drive them out of business.
If prices or crude oil and gasoline really rise and fall at the whim of U.S. petroleum companies, why would oil and gas prices ever fall? Texas crude fell to $12 in February 1999. Was that because U.S. oil companies suddenly became less greedy?
(Excerpt) Read more at townhall.com ...
Microsoft's profit for the same quarter was about 25 percent of sales. Let's rip em !
But this is EXACTLY WHAT THE SO-CALLED PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM, BETTER KNOWN AS GOVERNMENT INDOCTRONATION CETERS IN MY OPINION WANT!!! To DUMB America down, to dumb Americans into voting for THEM. What else do you expect from a 30-second sound bite, reality TV, go to the movies, hang at the mall, talk on the cell phone while driving, whine at everything, blame Bush, conservatives, religion, for EVERY thing wrong in their lives. This is EXACTLY what the socialist and communist democrats want, AND SADLY, ARE GETTING!
The high oil prices are indicative of the large increase in commodity traders and the funds available to them. Many of these individuals and groups don't ever take possession of the oil they trade. They just drive up the prices. The oil companies are not setting the prices high, nor are they manipulating the market. The manipulation is occurring in the commodity futures, and it is being perpetrated by the same market forces that inflate prices of many of our stocks.
If there's anything to be done about oil prices, it might help to do something to chase the speculators out of the oil futures market. Punishing the oil companies for something outside of their control would be counter productive.
But, but, but, we don't need Windows...even though it is on almost every computer sold... -sarcasm
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Cause they can get it.
O'reilly makes higher pct. profit than Exxon. Let's go after him!!
Do you have data to cite or are you just assuming that?
If true, on reason is could be that many states have laws that gas stations must charge a certain percent over what they paid for the gas. So if the price the stations pay goes down they cannot lower prices until they sell out the higher priced gas.
Competition makes the price go down. Anti-competition laws (basically anti Wal-Mart/Sams Club gas station laws) that keep prices higher would be to blame.
Exactly, anyone who complains that "Profits are X% higher than last year" is an idiot. If last year was a bad year with very little profit, then profits could be 1000% higher and it still could be another bad year.
For example if a major coporationg needs $100 million profit to make a 6% return on investment, then $1million total profit last year would be an failure. A $10million profit this year would still be a failure even thought it is 1000% higher than last year.
If Oil is such a great investment, why not just invest in it? Why steal the profits? The fact is, oil has not been the greatest investment over the past years.
Even though he is a lib, I thought you might enjoy this quote from George Carlin. Some of it dovetails with your comments:
"If everything is really the fault of a politician, where are all the bright, honest, intelligent Americans who are ready to step in and replace them? Where are these people hiding? The truth is, we don't have people like that. Everyone's at the mall, scratching his ba!!s, and buying sneakers with lights in them. And complaining about the politicians." - George Carlin
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